Fashion choices have long served as a hallmark of writer-director Sofia Coppola 's films, from the gauzy underwear in the hazy, dreamlike opening of "Lost in Translation" to teenage Marie Antoinette's choice of blue Chuck Taylors. But in her new movie " The Bling Ring ," about real life Hollywood-obsessed Valley kids who stole from the rich and famous, clothing isn't just about what the characters are wearing. It's a plot device. "We kind of immersed ourselves in...

By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES, May 8 (Reuters) - Gia Coppola hails from Hollywood royalty as the granddaughter of Oscar-winning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, but when she made her directorial debut she sought the help of actor James Franco to tap into teenage angst. Coppola, 27, adapted Franco's book "Palo Alto," a collection of short stories exploring suburban ennui in his California hometown, into a film starring young talent, led by Emma...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Laura Linney, the female cast members of TV drama "Mad Men" and directors Sofia Coppola and George Lucas were named on Monday as winners of Hollywood's annual Crystal and Lucy Awards, which honor women's achievement in film. The Women in Film organization, which promotes gender parity in the historically male-dominated film business, will honor winners in six award categories at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills in June. Linney,...

PARIS- American film icon Quentin Tarantino , who considerably expanded his Gallic fan base since declaring "Cinema is my religion and France is the Vatican" in October, will be delivering the honorary Cesar to Scarlett Johansson at the Feb. 28 awards ceremony in Paris. Tarantino received the honorary Cesar in 2011. Johansson, meanwhile, will likely be the youngest recipient of this award, which has been given to such talent as Dustin...

In the violent cavalcade of the American cinema, few have made a debut as drenched in the blood of others as Sofia Coppola. She received her baptism, quite literally, during the climax of "The Godfather," when she was christened a Corleone while her father--Francis Ford Coppola--was operatically rubbing out the leaders of the other Mafia families. The most violent thing that happens in "Lost in Translation," Sofia Coppola's new movie that opens in Chicago on...

Gia Coppola , the 26-year-old granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola, doesn't lack for ambition with her feature directorial debut " Palo Alto " premiering today in Toronto. "I definitely want to do another," she told Variety. "The hardest thing on 'Palo Alto' was letting go because I kept working on it, trying to make it better. I've been so immersed in it. " Coppola began working on "Palo Alto" two years ago after reading James Franco's 2010 collection of...

Sofia Coppola admits to a history of being a dabbler, having at various points tried out photography, painting, fashion design, journalism, modeling, screenwriting, co-hosting a cable TV show and, when her dad was in a pinch, acting. That awkward stint in front of the camera as an 18-year-old, filling in for the suddenly departed Winona Ryder in Francis Ford Coppola's 1990 sequel "The Godfather Part III," turned her into a poster girl for the perils of nepotism as she endured unfavorable comparisons to...

"I think Los Angeles is so the center of American culture right now," writer-director Sofia Coppola says in the production notes for her swift, clever bauble "The Bling Ring," because "of all these reality TV shows. " That's an interesting statement, starting with the notion that a reality show represents or belongs at the center of anything. Famously without a geographic focal point, LA has been described as the city of nets, of locusts, of angels, freeways...

Sofia Coppola's queens-just-wanna-have-fun version of "Marie Antoinette," which stars Kirsten Dunst and features the Bow Wow Wow version of "I Want Candy" on the soundtrack, opened Wednesday all over France. You'd think a national release (five months prior to the American unveiling) might deflate interest in the film's same-day premiere at the Cannes film festival. But no. Prior to the 8:30 a.m. Wednesday screening for 2,300 Cannes industry and press attendees, dozens of film fans who...

Fashion choices have long served as a hallmark of writer-director Sofia Coppola 's films, from the gauzy underwear in the hazy, dreamlike opening of "Lost in Translation" to teenage Marie Antoinette's choice of blue Chuck Taylors. But in her new movie " The Bling Ring ," about real life Hollywood-obsessed Valley kids who stole from the rich and famous, clothing isn't just about what the characters are wearing. It's a plot device. "We kind of immersed ourselves in...

In her brief career, Sofia Coppola has established herself as a remarkably intuitive director. While most directors use structure, plot and dialogue as their storytelling building blocks, Coppola seems to work through her material by feel. Both of her movies, her 2000 adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides' "The Virgin Suicides" and now "Lost in Translation," zero in on emotions and moods, making them uncannily vivid. She was able to capture the tricky...

It seemed the creative folk behind A24's "The Bling Ring" were even too cool for an actual red carpet, as the clicking of stilettoes on hard linoleum provided an apt effect for the film's June 4 premiere at the DGA in WeHo. The event appropriately showcased plenty of fashion and fashionistas, including cast members Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, Katie Chang and Gavin Rossdale, with wife Gwen Stefani. Even Paris Hilton, one of the film's burglary victims, paraded up and down...

Sofia Coppola's newest film reinforces her reputation as a remarkably intuitive director who zeroes in on emotions and moods. Like most of her work, "Lost in Translation" hinges more on moments than plot turns. Aging actor Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), the young wife of an oft-absent photographer (Giovanni Ribisi), find themselves isolated in a Tokyo high-rise hotel and meet by chance. The movie is about how these two souls connect, but it's never as obvious as that.

“I mean, I come from Winnetka,” says New Trier Township High School graduating senior Katie Chang, in Cannes this week accompanying her big break, Sofia Coppola's “The Bling Ring.” “So, what I mean is, you don't NOT meet rich kids in Winnetka. I'm very lucky, coming from a great school. (She's going to another, larger one in the fall: Columbia University, to study creative writing.) But I've certainly seen versions of these sorts of kids before.” In...

By Ari Bendersky. Ari Bendersky is a metromix special contributor | December 1, 2004

We've had Air. And Daft Punk. And Serge Gainsbourg. And Cassius. All French bands steeped in electronica and avant garde, though none has come close to catching on. But with fans like Christian Dior, designer Hedi Slimane and both Sofia and Roman Coppola fawning over Phoenix, it's only a matter of time before everyone else gets on board. The band's second album, "Alphabetical," released in March, showcases music inspired by '80s pop and '70s SoCal singer-songwriters with hints of hip-hop.

LOS ANGELES, April 29 (Reuters) - Actress Laura Linney, the female cast members of TV drama "Mad Men" and directors Sofia Coppola and George Lucas were named on Monday as winners of Hollywood's annual Crystal and Lucy Awards, which honor women's achievement in film. The Women in Film organization, which promotes gender parity in the historically male-dominated film business, will honor winners in six award categories at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills ...

After enjoying buzz at the film festivals in Toronto, Venice and Telluride, "Lost in Translation"--the new film written and directed by 32-year-old Sofia Coppola--opens in Chicago on Friday. ---------- Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)